Public Health Law Blog Archive

Passing smoke-free measures is almost always harder than you might think. More than half of all U.S. communities have passed laws prohibiting smoking in public places and worksites, so it’s easy to lose sight of how much opposition these laws can provoke and how many legal and political roadblocks local policy-makers and advocates must generally overcome. This year, enacting smoke-free policies has been particularly difficult for the local board of health in Bullitt County, Kentucky. Earlier this spring, the Bullitt County Board of Health held a first reading of a 

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) is aimed primarily at improving individual health by increasing access to affordable health insurance, but it also contains a number of provisions targeted at improving health at the population level. These provisions are designed to modernize public health systems, increase access to clinical preventive services, spur the creation of healthier communities and support innovation in public health. A key component in these efforts is the provision of grant funding to states, territories, municipalities, tribal and community organizations for public health initiatives. While the ACA creates 

Public health problems often develop when the health needs of one segment of the population are in conflict with the needs or interests of others. With respect to the prescribing of opioid analgesics, or narcotic painkillers, the public health community faces two epidemics and the most obvious solutions to these epidemics appear to be incompatible. Two groups impacted by prescription narcotics – pain patients and victims of addiction and overdose –take different positions with respect to the proper legal framework for the regulation of these drugs. Meanwhile, with encouragement from 

Legal developments move rapidly in the increasingly complex field of medical marijuana law. Since we first blogged on medical marijuana laws in May 2011, at least four significant events have occurred: 1) Delaware Governor Jack Markell signed SB 17 into law on May 13, 2011, making Delaware the 16th state to enact a medical marijuana law similar to other state statutes allowing limited distribution of medical marijuana by licensed nonprofit “compassion centers” for seriously ill persons recommended by their physicians. 2) The Drug Enforcement Administration of the U.S. Department of Justice